


In the Corn Fields

by LeoArcana



Series: Prompts [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Corn Mazes, Halloween, M/M, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-13
Updated: 2013-10-13
Packaged: 2017-12-29 06:59:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1002348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeoArcana/pseuds/LeoArcana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are two kinds people when it comes to Halloween.  There’s people who love and can’t get enough of it.  People like Dean.  There’s also people who didn’t like it, borderline hated it.  People like Castiel.  So when Castiel's brothers drag him to a haunted corn maze, a panic attack could be expected.  What wasn't expected, was for the one to cause it also be the one who make him feel better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Corn Fields

**Author's Note:**

> written for [chubdean](chubdean.tumblr.com) and her corn maze AU prompt

There are two kinds people when it comes to Halloween. There’s people who love it and can’t get enough of it. People like Dean.

Dean breathed in the crisp air of October. It was his favorite month, not only because it meant fresh baked pumpkin pies everywhere, but also because it meant Halloween. He loved everything about Halloween. The parties, the monsters, the fear, the superstition; everything that made Halloween Halloween. Dean especially loved scaring people and this was the only time of year it was excusable. And the only time he was allowed take things a few steps further than normal. The only thing better than scaring people was getting paid to scare people.

Every year, he worked at the local corn farm that staged haunted mazes, a regular maze, hay rides, and played horror movies on a drive-in style screen out in the empty fields. This year was going to be even better because he was now eighteen, and that meant he was allowed to use real props. Sure, he’d been allowed to use things like fake rubber knives, but that wasn’t enough for him. This year, he had every intention of using a chainsaw. Nothing scared people more than hearing a chainsaw revving in the night and coming closer. He wouldn’t even feel bad about scaring the living hell out them. They were paying to get scared and Dean just wanted to make sure they’d get their money’s worth.

Dean could barely hold still as Jo painted his face with fake blood and a little mud. In the day-light, it might look like Dean had gotten into a fight out in the fields with another scarer. But come night-time, when he would be holding the chainsaw and revving as he chased people through the corn, it would look more like he’d gotten into a fight in the fields and killed the other scarer.

Oh, he was so excited to see how bad he could scare people this year.

“You look more excited than a kid on Christmas morning.”

Dean turned to look up at who had spoken, earning a light smack from Jo for messing up her work.

“That’s because I am, Sammy,” Dean beamed, “I don’t see why you aren’t excited for it, you scare people and get paid to do it.”

“I don’t scare people, Dean, I just tell them where to park,” Sam replied flatly.

Sam was only fourteen, not old enough to be a scarer. But that hadn’t stopped Ellen, the farm’s owner, from dressing him up in ripped up and bloodied clothes. Sam had been against any face painting from Jo, he didn’t like the way it felt on his face, but she’d convinced him earlier to at least let her put a little make up on to make his skin paler and his eyes sunken.

“Oh, I get it,” Dean grinned.

“What?”

“It’s cuz there’s clowns runnin’ around here somewhere, huh?”

Sam tensed, growing paler under the make-up. Dean shook his head, laughing as he brother checked over his shoulder for any demonized-clowns that might be walking around.

“Stop that!” Jo barked, smacking him again.

“You hit like a girl,” Dean replied.

“Gee, I wonder why…” Jo sighed, “Just hold still a second longer, I’m almost done.”

“By the way,” Sam said, “Ellen wanted me to give you this. She thought you’d like it to go with your costume.”

Sam held out a dirty, old school hockey mask. It was cracked and well worn, even missing a good portion of the part that covered the right eye. Oh yeah, Dean was going to have fun tonight. 

As said before, there’s two types of people when it comes to Halloween. There’s also people who didn’t like it, borderline hated it. People like Castiel.

Castiel had every intention of staying in today. Not that he didn’t do that almost every day anyway, but today was different. He hated Halloween. Everything about it was just too much for him. People dressing up like monsters, demons, vampires, anything really, and scaring the hell out of him. Even if the ‘creatures’ were doing nothing but walking casually, he would still tense up and keep a worried eye on them until he saw another one. It wasn’t fair he was scared so easily.

So naturally, when his brothers appeared in his bedroom door with that look on their face that said Castiel wouldn’t like what was about to happen, he immediately got up to shut the door on them. Lucifer stuck his foot in the door, stopping Castiel from closing it all the way.

“Aww, c’mon, you don’t even know what he want,” Lucifer mockingly-whined.

“I don’t care,” Castiel said coldly.

Castiel pushed his hold body against the door in a vain attempt to hurt Lucifer’s foot enough to make him move. He heard his older brother laugh and then he just pushed the door back open like Castiel provided no resistance at all.

“Just hear us out, okay?” Lucifer smiled.

Castiel bristled under that light-hearted look, but he didn’t really have much of a choice.

“Fine,” Castiel snorted.

“Excellent,” Balthazar beamed, “Gabriel found a haunted corn maze just outside of town. It gets wonderful reviews, supposed to be the scariest one in the whole county.”

“And why would I want to go to that?” Castiel asked.

“Relax, Cassie,” Gabriel said, “You follow a path through the maze, so you won’t get lost. And none of the scarers are allowed to touch you, against policy and all that. It’s harmless and fun.”

“It doesn’t sound like fun, I think I’ll stay home,” Castiel declined.

“Michael said you have to get out of the house and face your fears,” Gabriel replied.

“…He did not.”

“Oh, yes he did,” Balthazar chimed, “Don’t worry, we’ll be with you the whole time.”

“Yeah, we’ll all stand around you to make you feel better,” Lucifer offered.

“Really?”

The three nodded.

“And…the scarers aren’t allowed to touch me?”

“Nary a finger on your precious head,” Balthazar confirmed.

Castiel swallowed nervously, but nodded. He would be fine. It was all controlled and his brothers would be right there for him. He could do this. Lucifer added that they weren’t going until later, when the sun had set. Castiel would’ve rather gone now when it was still light out and he could see everything, but it was three against one.

A few hours later, when the sun burned a deep, fiery orange low in the sky as darkness pushed it away, they all piled into Lucifer’s car. As they drove through town, Castiel thought about why it was that he hated Halloween and his brothers loved it. Lucifer liked to spook people and mess with their heads. Gabriel loved the candy, that was an easy one. Balthazar…he probably liked it for the scandalous parties it brought. Castiel didn’t like any of those things. He sighed and watched as the buildings thinned out, giving way to the country side.

Nothing but a distant gentle glow of the remained by the time they got to the Harvelle Farm. Several of cars, maybe even close to a hundred, were all parked close together in the field neighboring the haunted field. Castiel stared at the one they were going to; a few flood lights lit the areas around the barn, illuminating the smoke and fog lazily rising up and painting eerie shadows on the barns and stables. He felt Lucifer’s car come to a stop and nearly jumped out his skin when he saw what he was sure was corpse at the window.

Gabriel covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. Lucifer took noticed and cracked a smile as the corpse-like kid in ripped up, bloodied clothes directed them to a row of cars that had a few spaces left for parking. They continued through the field, Lucifer’s car taking the holes and divots extremely hard, and parked at the end of the row. Gabriel jumped out excitedly, followed by Balthazar who also looked quite pleased. Castiel hesitated; this was a bad idea. He flinched when Lucifer opened his door and motioned for him to get out.

Castiel let out a deep breath and got out, following his brothers to the farm’s entrance. He was sure he’d seen people creeping between cars, like a pack of wolves stalking their prey. Castiel quickened his pace and kept close to his brothers.

They walked up to the make-shift admittance booth at the entrance where another corpse-like person greeted them. Her blonde hair was matted down in some parts with blood, scratches and cuts all along the exposed parts of her arms and face, clothing ripped and burned, soot and ash smeared over her skin; she basically looked like she’d walked out of an explosion. Castiel barely heard her as she asked which one of the attractions they’d like to go, or if they’d like all four. Lucifer, having mercy for once, said they’d start with just the corn maze. She then asked if any of them had a history of epilepsy, heart conditions, spasms, or anything really that could be triggered by fear and end in a lawsuit. Castiel shivered, wondering just how scaring it was going to be.

Castiel felt the hairs on his neck stand up as cold breath brushed his neck. He yelped, leaping forward and swinging his arms at the thing. Only to find it had just been Gabriel. He laughed at the glare Castiel gave him, trying to cover his fear. The other two snickered at him as they continued into the farm.

Scarers, dressed frighteningly well, prowled through the barns and stables, peering at them through cracks in the wood. Castiel bit his lip nervously and glanced at his brothers who seemed either unfazed or unaware of the unwanted followers.

“Where’s the entrance to the corn maze?” Gabriel frowned.

They knew it was through a stable, but which one, they didn’t know. They’d been too busy giggling at Castiel when the explosion-survivor girl told them.

“Why don’t we ask this lovely lady?” Balthazar suggested, just loud enough to get her attention.

Castiel thought for a minute that maybe she was normal and had chosen not to dress up. But as soon as she turned around, he saw he was dead wrong.

A knife was buried deep into her stomach, blood matting her shirt and dripping slowly from the wound as well as from her mouth. Most frighteningly though, was her eyes. Not only where they pitch black in the sheer white light of the flood lights, but the blackness took up far too much of her eyes for Castiel’s comfort. Even Gabriel and Balthazar seemed a little put off by it. Lucifer, apparently, thought it awesome if his expression was anything to go by.

“Corn maze is just up ahead, around the left of that barn,” she said, pointing to a barn just a few yard’s up.

Balthazar, putting aside her unnerving appearance, gave her a charming smile and thanked her as the rest of them continued forward. Castiel hesitated just long enough to hear that ‘this lovely lady has a name and it’s Ruby’. To which Balthazar gave some cheesy compliment about the resemblance of the gem. Evidently Ruby also had a boyfriend; the corpse-boy who had told them where to park. The look on Balthazar’s face was priceless. Not only had she turned him down, not only was she taken, but that meant she was also jail-bait.

Balthazar huffed, trying to keep his dignity, and grabbed Castiel by the arm. He dragged his younger brother along until they caught up to Gabriel and Lucifer, now holding their places in the quickly growing line.

To keep people from getting bored while in line, scarers kept coming by. A few popped up out of nowhere behind people. Ones that people believed to be fake statues jumped at them. Some even creeped straight up to people and got down right disturbingly close to their faces. And a few simply walked along the line, mumbling mindlessly in what Castiel assumed was Latin, other walkers just gave them smug, knowing looks. One of them, a woman with short black hair and an elegant, slightly revealing black dress walked close to Castiel. Like with Ruby, this woman seemed normal until he saw her eyes. Pure red taking up not only her irises, but the entirety of her eyes.

Castiel sank back, pressing up against the old wood of the stable’s exterior. Only to feel another breath on his neck. He thought it was Gabriel again, until he realized his trick-playing brother was in front of him. Castiel tensed up and ripped away from the wall, turning on his heel to see a pair of yellow eyes peering out between the cracks, accompanied by black smoke rolling out as well. He was sure he could see the teeth of the scarer as he smiled and chuckled to himself, retreating back into the darkness of the stable.

“I-I don’t think this was a good idea,” Castiel mumbled, trying to stay calm.

“Ah, you’ll be fine Cassie,” Gabriel grinned, clapping a hand to Castiel’s shoulder, “Y’got your big brothers here to keep you safe.”

Castiel let out a barely suppressed whimper; somehow that seemed like a less comforting fact than it had been before.

The line continued forward, leading them into the stables. Only aged, cracked wood and broken chicken wire separated them from the scarers and their less than human like movements. A few old signs were nailed up along the rafters, telling the patrons of safety things they had to abide by. They were just generic guidelines like no running, no shoving, do not touch scarers (especially those with props) and most important, no running off the path and through the corn field. If they ventured off the path and got lost in the field, it would be extremely difficult for staff to find them and the entire corn maze would have to be shut down until they were found.

In almost no time now, Castiel and his brothers were at the front of the line. A boy looking about the corpse-kid’s age told them to wait until the group in front of them had gotten sufficiently far enough into the maze that they wouldn’t bump into them. The dim red lighting at the entrance emphasized the blacked ash smeared all over the boy’s skin. Parts of his skin were reddened, not just by the light, but also what appeared to be very severe burns. Even parts of his clothes looked like they’d been burned.

Another minute of staring nervously at the fire-victimized kid, and then he stepped aside allowing them into the corn. Lucifer led the way, with a grin Castiel was beginning to get suspicious of, followed by Balthazar and Gabriel who shared similar smiles. Castiel’s breath caught in his throat as he started after them; he was supposed to be in the middle to be safe from everything in the maze.

In the distance, he heard a semi-truck horn blare as a diesel engine surged forward somewhere. The heart stopping sound of a scarer screaming, probably in someone’s face. The terrified shrieks followed by low laughter…

The first thing they came across wasn’t too scary, just unnerving. A tall, older man stood in the center of the small clearing with his hands clasped behind his back. His pale skin was in stark contrast to the black robe he wore; the light that filtered through the corn cast haunting shadows across his bony face. The man said nothing; he just kept his eyes fixed on them. He turned his head, following them with his gaze as they moved around him. Only then did he hold a bony finger to his lips, warning them to be silent.

Once the path rounded a corner, hiding the man from sight, low strobe lights began to flash. All four of them immediately felt disoriented as the flashing lights messed with their depth perception. Castiel paid little attention as Gabriel bumped into Lucifer, he was sure he could see something moving within the corn stalks towering over either side of them. No, he definitely saw something. It weaved through the stalks, in what looked like quick yet halting movements due to the strobe lights. Castiel tried to keep an eye on it, but the lights made it difficult.

Suddenly, Castiel gasped as the figure threw the cornstalks back and darted out in front of them, bounding across the path and disappearing into the other side. Castiel stumbled back, tripping a sensor they had just barely missed. The ground below them shook violently with a shrill, deafening siren. Castiel gave a short scream, scrambling for the safety among his brothers. But, of course, they laughed and used his frightened momentum to push him into the next scare first.

A shed stretched over the path, forcing them to go through it. Vivid, glowing florescent painted covered the inside, effectively hiding the pillars running down the center. More than once did they bump into them. With each bump, a demented clown sprang out from the other side; outstretched claws reaching for the brothers as their cackling filled the shed. The clowns swiped at them, got too close for comfort, gnashed their teeth and laughed hysterically at Castiel’s terrified reaction. He tried to sprint to the end of the shed, but with the painting of its interior, he was convinced the small building was shrinking in on them. He bent over and stumbled out of the normal sized exit.

Castiel braced himself on his knees, trying to take deep breaths and stay calm. Lucifer rolled his eyes, Balthazar patted him on the back, and Gabriel just nudged him forward with a smile.

“I don’t want to do this,” Castiel whimpered.

“We only just got started, c’mon!” Gabriel said.

Gabriel stood Castiel upright and gave him a gentle shove forward.

“I would really rather go back…” Castiel tried.

“Well, you’re not allowed to go backwards, so you’re stuck in here til ya get to the end.”

Gabriel gave him another push forward with an encouraging nod. They went several more yards, hearing the sounds of the semi-truck blaring its horn and charging forward. The semi was a part of the haunted hay ride, but still everytime its horn shattered the quiet, Castiel jumped out of his skin. The path led them up a flight of stairs to a bridge crossing the tops of the corn. From there, they could see the majority of the maze, though they couldn’t see most of what lurked within it; just any large obstacles. It looked like there were two more sheds, God only knows what was inside of those, a wrecked bus, a maze within the maze; all leading into the small forest that bordered the farm.

Castiel soon realized his brothers had already gotten to the otherside of the bridge and began to descend without him. He ran to catch up with them, nearly falling down the stairs. They went down into another doorway, much to his displeasure. He would’ve liked to at least be able to look up and see the night sky. But now all he could see was darkness illuminated only by the glowing hands and masks mounted on the walls.

It must’ve been a tunnel of some sort; there was nothing obstructing their walking this time. Castiel found himself staring at a mask, until it turned to face him. He yelped and ran forward, knocking into Balthazar and Lucifer.

“Calm down, what’s your problem?” Lucifer huffed.

“I-it moved…”

The other three looked back. Nothing was moving.

“I-I swear, one of t-them moved!”

Lucifer looked at him skeptically, then out of the corner of his eye, he saw a mask come off the wall, accompanied with a set of hands. Then another mask and pair of hands came off. Both of them lurked towards the brothers with slow, cautious movements.

“C-can we please keep going?” Castiel begged.

He clutched Lucifer’s arm and tugged him towards the end of the tunnel. Lucifer shook him off and kept watching the lurkers, clearly impressed at how they managed to look like floating faces and hands. Balthazar, a little bothered by the display, cleared his throat and suggested they move on before the group behind them caught up. Lucifer sighed and led the way out. Castiel was relieved to see the cloudy sky again, but his reprieve was short lived as his brothers urged him forward again.

The path wound through the corn with little physical fear. Although there were horns and sirens going off every few seconds, people and scarers both screaming and laughing, the quietness brought on by this stretch of corn was unnerving. Castiel slowed down a bit, expecting something to jump out at any second. At hearing a twig snap that he knew he hadn’t stepped on, he nervously began to turn around. Before he could even see what it was, a girl’s sudden shrill scream scared him running straight into Gabriel and sending them both to the ground.

“Good God, Cas, you really must calm down,” Balthazar sighed.

Gabriel got up, brushing the dirt and mud off himself. Castiel didn’t bother, he was now overly alert for anything coming towards them.

The next thing they came up was the bus. It was made to look like it had wrecked itself into the drainage trench of the corn field. As such, they took a short flight of stairs up into the back of the bus. As they entered the rear exit of the bus, Castiel was sure he’d heard the sound of a chainsaw revving somewhere and a frightened scream. He shook the thought from his head, trying to stay calm and not ruin the fun for his brothers again.

The bus was filled with suffocating fog that drifted from the roof and settled thickly on the floor and seats. On occasion, something beneath the fog disturbed it, sending small twirls upwards. Gabriel leaned closer to see what the dark mass under the fog was, then suddenly yelp and jump back into another seat as a hand shot out of the fog. A groan broke the silence of the bus as a decaying zombie pulled itself up from the seat. Another groan came from behind them as another zombie student rose up. The second one came to stand in front of the rear exit, crouched low and snarling. The first one had also brought itself into a crouch on the seat, baring his teeth and snarling.

The one at the back of the bus let out a feral scream and charged at them, sending them running just as the first one pounced from its seat; narrowly missing Castiel. Both the zombies chased them down the length of the bus, stopping only when Castiel tripped down the stairs of the bus’ entrance. They remained beside the dead bus driver, hissing and snarling at them as Lucifer hauled Castiel back to his feet and roughly pushed him forward.

Castiel shook his head and stepped aside for one of his brothers to lead the way. Lucifer rolled his eyes, taking the lead again. Castiel glanced back at the zombies nervously; they remained on the bus, pacing up and down its length and scratching at the windows. He shivered and jogged to catch up to his brothers.

Thankfully, the next scare was lit by low burning orange lights; better to show off the plywood walls rising up. It was the maze within the maze. He saw Lucifer whispered something to Gabriel and Balthazar with a grin, but he paid it no mind. He was too busy panicking at the scent of gasoline. At least, until his brothers were running ahead without him. Castiel yelled for them to wait, but they only ran faster, disappearing around the first corner.

Again, Castiel heard a chainsaw revving, only this time much closer. Castiel sucked in a breath and ran through the maze, telling himself he would be fine as long as he didn’t run into a dead end. The chainsaw revved again, followed by Gabriel’s swearing and a manic laugh. He saw his brothers’ shadows flicker across a nearby wall, he was close at least. Then a fourth shadow, much larger than his brothers, came into view. Castiel froze as he heard the chainsaw purring, the wielder’s shadow appearing to turn in Castiel’s direction.

The wielder revved it gently, just to spook his next victim, but the shadow came no closer. Castiel steeled himself, reminding himself that scarers weren’t allowed to touch him. He had two choices at this point; run straight or run left. The shadow seemed to be coming from the left, so he definitely wasn’t going that way. The chainsaw revved gently again, this time more tauntingly. Castiel let out a shaky breath and ran forward.

The chainsaw revved fiercely, promising a vicious death as the wielder came roaring at Castiel as he passed the turn. Castiel screamed, falling against the plywood wall and sinking down into the mud. The wielder laughed manically as he raised it above his partially masked face and revved it again. Castiel’s eyes widened in horror at the bloodied, dirty, psychotic murderer; made even more frightening by the low orange light.

Castiel screamed again, scrambling to his feet and bolting away. The murderer laughed again, revving the chainsaw at the excitement of the chase. Castiel knocked into the walls at every turn, panic filling his lungs. He was practically hysteric now, fearful tears streaming down his face as he looked over his shoulder to see the murderer chasing him, swinging the chainsaw with each bowed step. Castiel let out a strangled scream of fear as he tripped over a fallen fence post and tumbled into the corn.

Castiel scrambled to his feet and ran into the corn. He didn’t care that he could get lost in there; he was just desperate to get away from this chainsaw-wielding psychopath. He thought maybe he heard the murderer curse loudly and come in after him. The purring chainsaw along with the murderer’s shouts, muffled by the broken mask, only fuel Castiel to run faster. He tried to swat the long leaves out his face, but the majority still slapped him in the face.

He ran as fast as he could until he fell into a wide muddy pathway. He twisted over to see the murderer close on his heels and scrambled back until his back was against a wooden post. Breathing rapidly, he glanced quickly up at the post; it was a sign with a hint. He ran from the haunted maze and into the regular one. But that did nothing to quell the rising fear of death as the murderer continued to come closer. He wasn’t running anymore, but leaned forward and walking slowly; movements that further emphasized his bowed legs. He held the chainsaw behind himself, reaching out to Castiel with his other hand. Then Castiel realized the murderer had been trying to talk to him for several seconds.

At the confused, still terrified expression Castiel gave, the murderer switched the chainsaw off and set it down. He continued to advance slowly, his words still hindered by the mask. The murderer stopped just a couple feet in front of Castiel and kneeled down in the mud. Castiel’s breath caught and he tried to press further back against the post as the murderer raised his hand.

“St-stop!” Castiel screamed, raising his owns hands to shield himself.

The murderer paused, his one visible eye blinking in concern. He then brought his hand to the mask and pulled it off.

“Hey, dude, calm down,” came a soothing deep voice.

Castiel chanced a look up through his hands and his gaze was meet with emerald green eyes set in a bloody, dirtied face of worry.

“I’m not gonna hurt you, man,” the murderer added.

“Wha….what?” Castiel stammered.

“Look, the chainsaw doesn’t even have a chain on it.”

His breathing slowly began to return to normal and the murderer set the broken mask on the ground and shifted closer to a more comfortable kneeling position. Castiel dared to look past him at the still chainsaw; it was indeed missing the sharp teeth of a chain.

“I’m not gonna hurt you,” the murderer repeated, “I didn’t…I didn’t mean to scare you that bad.”

The words sank in, reminding Castiel that he was at an event. A place he and his brothers paid to be. A place where he was perfectly safe because no one was allowed to touch him. He then felt the warmth of fresh tears run down his face.

“H-hey, are you okay?” the murderer asked, “I’m really sorry.”

Castiel shook his head, angrily wiping his tears away. He felt so stupid for reacting like that. But that’s why he hadn’t wanted to come here in the first place.

“Hey…”

Strong hands clasped onto Castiel’s wrists, pulling his shaking hands away from his face. A short hiccup escaped his lips as he stared at the concerned face before him. This murderer— This guy really did feel terrible for scaring him so badly. Castiel felt his lower lip tremble as a new wave of tears threatened to spill over.

“Come on,” the guy said.

He stood up, pulling Castiel to his feet and letting go of one wrist. The guy didn’t trust Castiel to stand on his shaky legs on his own, and he was right to do so. He snatched up his mask and led him over to the now silent chainsaw and picked it up in the same hand.

“Whe-where are you taking me?” Castiel choked.

“I’m gettin’ you out of this maze,” the guy offered.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean, this one is normal and kinda easy, but I don’t think you even know which part you’re in. I wouldn’t leave you in here, feeling this scared.”

Castiel’s cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment, but he was still thankful this guy was getting him out. As they walked down the wide open paths, never once did the guy let go of Castiel’s wrist. Castiel bit his lip and shifted his captive wrist so that it was now his hand the guy was holding; he felt less like he was in trouble this way. He chanced a glance up at the guy; he didn’t seem bothered to be holding Castiel’s hand. Instead, he just kept talking.

His name was Dean. A friend of his family’s ran the farm and he worked here every year. It was also his younger brother’s first year working here; he was the corpse-like boy who’d told Lucifer where to park and was dating that Ruby girl Balthazar had tried to flirt with. Dean didn’t like Ruby at all. Things he did like, however, was scaring people, his car, his small collection of firearms, going hunting once in a while, fast food, and…had he just hinted at what Castiel thought he did?

Castiel blinked in confusion, he wanted to ask about that. But once they hit the wide gravel trail leading back up to the farm, Dean turned to him; green eyes holding a bit nervousness.

“C’mon, I’ll get ya something to eat,” he offered, “As an apology for…y’know.”

“You don’t have to,” Castiel murmured.

“No, I want to. I went kinda overboard with chasing you that far, I don’t normally follow people more than a couple yards.”

Castiel nodded his head in acceptance. Dean gave him a relieved half grin and led the way up the gravel trail; still holding Castiel’s hand. Castiel swallowed nervously, maybe Dean had hinted at what he’d thought. If that was the case, Castiel certainly wouldn’t complain.

Dean only let go when they came to door in the side of a barn that read ‘Employees Only’. He pushed the door open and dropped his chainsaw and mask haphazardly just inside and turned to Castiel.

“Let’s go,” Dean smiled.

The smile looked out of place on his stained face as the flood lights cast shadows over his face. If he hadn’t just been so nice and concerned for Castiel, he would probably think it was some sort of deranged smile. Dean took Castiel’s hand again, much to his delight, and brought him around to a wide open stable. On one side, there was another make-shift booth serving some food. There wasn’t a wide selection, but they weren’t a restaurant either. On the other side were a handful of tables, benches, and hay bales for sitting.

Dean gave Castiel a nudge towards the seating area, telling him to sit while Dean got something to eat. He came over a minute later, holding something out for Castiel to take.

“Hope you like candy apples,” Dean said hopefully, “Kinda the only food left now.”

“Uh, y-yes, I do,” Castiel replied, taking one, “…They’re actually my favorite.”

“Awesome,” Dean grinned.

He sat down beside Castiel on the hay bale, taking a large bite out of the apple. And then subsequently getting caramel stuck all over in his teeth. Castiel looked down at his feet, trying not to laugh. Here was this guy, face covered in blood and dirt, who had just chased him through the corn with a chainsaw, trying to open his mouth wider than it should in an attempt to separate the caramel plaguing his mouth.

Dean coughed once, after successfully getting the apple and caramel down, and glanced at Castiel with amusement in his eyes; glad he could make him laugh after nearly killing him with fear.

“So why don’t you tell me something ‘bout yourself?” Dean asked.

Castiel swallowed his bite of candy apple. He didn’t know where to start, Dean had already told him so much about himself on their way up here.

“Um…my name’s Castiel,” he started.

“’Castiel’? Quite the name there, Cas,” Dean said, “Sounds kinda religious…?”

“It is, my parents named me for the angel of Thursday because I was born on a Thursday…did…did you call me ‘Cas’?”

“Yeah, your name’s kind of a mouth full,” Dean shrugged, “You don’t mind do you?”

“Not at all,” Castiel replied, allowing himself a small smile.

He continued talking to Dean, telling him about how his brothers had brought him here. He told him about the books he loved to read and collect. He also told him that he studied bees and that he would like to run a bee farm sometime in the future. The longer he talked, the more at ease he felt; especially with the way Dean listened so intently. Occasionally, he’d find himself laughing because Dean still hadn’t bothered to wipe the blood and dirt off his face. Or arms. Or anything really. Castiel just kept talking until he heard someone else call his name.

“Hey, little brother!” Gabriel greeted, “Thought we’d lost ya back there.”

“We did,” Balthazar stated bluntly, then added more quietly, “We lost him a couple hours ago…”

“Sorry for ditchin’ ya with that pyscho chainsaw guy, it was kinda low,” Gabriel murmured.

Balthazar muttered an apology; Lucifer flicked his eyes to the side. He wasn’t really that sorry.

“That pyscho chainsaw guy thinks it was kinda low, too,” Dean piped up.

The five boys remained silent for a moment.

“Well….this is a bit awkward,” Balthazar chimed.

“Hey, Dean!”

Dean leaned forward to look past Castiel’s brothers to see who was calling him. The corpse-like kid, Dean’s brother, Sam, walked up beside them.

“What?” Dean asked, trying to hide his annoyance.

“Ellen says to move your stuff before someone trips,” Sam said.

“No, she didn’t, you’re just being an orderly neat-freak.”

“You’re kinda right,” Sam said, “She really said ‘move your shit, I almost tripped’.”

“Ugh, fine,” Dean groaned.

He bit off the last of his apple and tossed the stick towards a nearby garbage can. He missed, but he didn’t seem too concerned about it as he pushed himself up.

“Jerk,” Sam muttered as he walked away.

“Bitch,” Dean hissed back.

“I think it’s about time for us to be going as well,” Balthazar announced.

His brothers gave Castiel a look that told him to get up and come along. Castiel nodded, taking the last bite of his apple as well and likewise tossing the stick. Castiel actually managed to make it in the garbage can though. Dean made a face of slightly jealousy. Castiel smiled as he turned and took a step away from Dean, only to feel his wrist caught in that strong grip again. He glanced down at his wrist, then up at Dean curiously.

“You got a good memory?” Dean asked.

“Yeah,” Castiel answered, “Why?”

Dean smiled warmly as he pulled Castiel closer. He leaned in, making Castiel’s heart flutter in anticipation, and murmured ten numbers into Castiel’s ear. Dean leaned back, giving Castiel’s hand a squeeze before letting go and walking off back to the barn that held his chainsaw and mask.

Castiel watched Dean’s retreating form, eyes unadmittedly drifting to Dean’s lower body and watching his bowed legs carry him away. He repeated the numbers to himself again, making sure he knew them before he sprinted off after his brothers, not wanting to be left behind again. He might’ve been hoping for a kiss, though he knew that was too much for just meeting. But those ten numbers were just as good; they were Dean’s cell phone number.

**Author's Note:**

> waaah, this ended up being longer than i planned. but i hope you (corpsecas) like it, as well as all you other awesome peeps who checked it out!
> 
> also, for those who might not've picked up:  
> exlposion-survivor girl = Jo  
> elegant lady with red eyes = demon Dean sold his soul to  
> yellow eyes peering = Azazel  
> fire-victim staging people into maze = Adam  
> bony man in the beginning of the maze = Death


End file.
